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Tweak says, "Put it on me. I want you safe."

The Tenth Doctor (dominustemporis) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2011-09-23 20:09:00

Entry tags:

the doctor (10), the master

Who: Koschei and the Tenth Doctor
Where: The Doctor's old room at the complex
When: Shortly after Ten's return from the alternate universe
What: Two old friends get together to chat and to keep one of them from dying of poison.
Warnings: Ten!angst, poisoning and the fixing of it.
Status: In progress!

The Doctor was regretting going back to his alternate self's quarters on Gallifrey one last time. If he hadn't, he would have avoided that last little assassination attempt that had actually worked. He'd no idea which Time Lord had planted the poison, nor was he entirely certain of where it had been, but suspected, based on the angry red patch of skin that had developed on the back of his left hand that he'd absorbed the toxin through his skin while he'd been retrieving the materials necessary to give that same Time Lord a proper chance to overthrow his other self.

It was a lucky thing, he reflected, that the Seal had switched him with his other self when it did. He didn't care for his chances of survival in that other world. He suspected that the very Time Lords his other self thought were on his side were in fact the Time Lords who saw how very wrong he'd gone and taken steps to correct the problem.

Still, that didn't mean he cared to die in that other man's place. He didn't care to die at all, and he had no illusions that there was a chance he could get out of this mess by regenerating. What sort of Time Lord planned an assassination without taking into account how to disable the regenerative process? He hoped that once Koschei arrived, the two of them could hit upon some sort of antidote. And wasn't that one of the most confusing thoughts he'd had all day? The Master, helping him, willingly, and not properly the Master anymore. He hadn't been sure what to call his old friend once he'd discovered the change over the network, but "the Master" certainly didn't fit any longer. He'd have to ask when the other man arrived. It would be terribly impolite of him to continue using Koschei if another title was preferred.

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childofoakdown
2011-09-28 11:42 pm UTC (link)

Once learning that the Doctor was poisoned, Koschei hurried to the complex to find him. He knew this wasn't the Doctor he'd known in his universe, but the Doctor was the Doctor and he deserved to be helped. And Koschei wasn't going to let this poison work if there was anything he could do about it. While obeying traffic signs and such, Koschei hurried all the way to the complex, suddenly wondering why he was staying so far away from it. From the looks of the abandoned building he'd arrived in, someone was living there, and it didn't take long to discover it was, in fact, another version of himself. It was all very confusion, but there wasn't much time to dwell on the intricacies of such things.

Finally arriving at the complex, he went inside, making his way to the Doctor's room. The complex was fascinating, actually. All the people that had been displaced from their own realities lived here in one spot. Genius, actually. Keeping everyone who could potentially help in the war going on in one spot, and the protections were impeccable. Definitely kept everyone inside safe from the dangers of the world outside.

Finally finding the Doctor's apartment, Koschei entered without knocking, as the Doctor had told him. He took only enough time to close the door behind him. After all, he didn't want anyone potentially snooping on them should the Doctor start regenerating, or simply just start dying. No, they needed some privacy for this.

"Doctor, I'm here," he announced, rushing over to his friend. "Tell me what I can do." He had a good thought that whatever poison was used, it was probably unique to the world the Doctor had been in and not universally shared by the various Gallifreys in various realities. He did make quick note of the red skin on the back of the Doctor's hand and knew this was very bad.

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dominustemporis
2011-09-28 11:56 pm UTC (link)

"Yes, yes. Hello. You're here." The Doctor flashed his old friend a quick smile. He'd done as he'd been told and sat down, keeping movement to a minimum in the hopes of slowing the poison's spread. He was doing a bit more than that, as well. Time Lords, at least some of them, could manipulate their own biochemistry to a certain degree. He hadn't done this in quite some time, but he was paying much closer attention to the chemical processes in his body than usual, wondering if perhaps he might be able to metabolize the poison in such a way that it might help. So far, no luck, and it was dreadfully difficult to focus when his sense of equilibrium was completely shot.

"Need a bit of help sorting out what's going on," the Doctor managed. "If we can identify the toxin ... well, toxins might be more accurate ... we might be able to do something. What should I call you, by the way? The other you, the you I know, he likes to be called the Master. You don't like to be called the Master, do you? Are we still going by school names? Thete and Koschei and all of that? Or did you pick something else? Like, oh, I don't know ... Not the Master?"

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childofoakdown
2011-09-30 02:30 am UTC (link)

It was a slight surprise to find the Doctor actually doing what he'd been told. Then again, when confronted with the very real possibility of death if he didn't do what he was told, the Doctor would go for extending his life. Koschei went and sat next to the Doctor, hoping he could somehow help. Poisons weren't his forte, but he would do whatever he could to help keep his friend alive.

"Koschei is my name, so you can call me that." The name of the Master tended to confuse him, as he really didn't know why this other version of him liked the connotations of such a name. Koschei certainly didn't like it, he was more of a helper and observer than anything else. "Do you have your sonic screwdriver on you? We could start with that, see if it can tell us what exactly we're dealing with. Though I'm not so sure Earth has everything we need to combat a Time Lord poison." He was aware that some things on Earth could help, and he hoped the posion would be one of the somewhat treatable ones. The alternative was one he didn't want to think about.

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dominustemporis
2011-09-30 02:38 am UTC (link)

The Doctor reached into a pocket and fumbled about a bit, coming up with an old bag of jelly babies, a satsuma, a banana, and his psychic paper before he finally managed to locate his sonic screwdriver. He held it out to Koschei, a slight tremor shaking his hand as he did. "You know the setting?" he asked. This version of his old friend seemed far more familiar with him, or perhaps it was just that Koschei wasn't trying to kill him that gave that impression.

"Have you been traveling with him? The other me, I mean. I can't imagine a me running around all by himself. I would have loved to travel the universe with you." If we weren't likely to strangle each other in the process, he added silently to himself.

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childofoakdown
2011-10-07 04:02 am UTC (link)

When the Doctor handed over the screwdriver, he simply nodded, taking a few moments to look over this particular screwdriver to ensure that it was the same, or very nearly the same, as the one the doctor in his universe had. It didn't take long for him to find the correct setting. Without the constant drums pounding inside his head, Koschei was able to think quickly on his feet. There were times he even mirrored the Doctor himself in forming plans and solutions on the fly. Once ready, he pointed the screwdriver at the Doctor, pressed the button, and took the scan.

"I have, yes. There were times we struck out in different directions, but we always seemed to run into each other again whether by accident or on purpose." Koschei chuckled softly as he read the results. His face paled a bit. "Well, that's not good. To be expected coming from Time Lords, but still very not good." He let the Doctor see the results for himself as his mind started racing, putting together a possible antidote. "All right, tell me you have a fully stocked kitchen? And medicine cabinet." Without waiting for a reply, Koschei went directly to the refrigerator and started combing through it.

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dominustemporis
2011-10-07 03:53 pm UTC (link)

"Brilliant. That's brilliant," the Doctor said, wondering what it must be like to step into the TARDIS with his oldest friend by his side. A fresh wave of nausea hit him, and he clenched his teeth, bowing his head and closing his eyes until it passed. He hoped Koschei, already rummaging in the kitchen, wouldn't notice.

When he could see straight again, the Doctor raised his head and watched the other Time Lord at work. There were so many questions he could ask this other man his friend might have become, so many different turning points that could have made all the difference. A part of the Doctor wished he could learn what those key turning points had been, make some use of them, but he knew that the only thing he would accomplish would be to satisfy his curiosity.

Then again, he was quite possibly dying. What could it hurt, to ask a few questions?

"Koschei ... this may sound strange, but I need to know ... Where you're from, was there a war? Did you hear anything, when you looked into the Untempered Schism?"

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childofoakdown
2011-10-20 02:10 am UTC (link)

Koschei rummaged through the refrigerator until he found what he needed. He pulled the ingredients out and set them on the counter, then grabbed a bowl and started adding the needed dose of each ingredient. It wouldn't be a cure, but it would be enough to hold the poison off long enough to get the needed ingredients. Or at least Koschei hoped so. He needed curry pepper, and the Doctor, of course, had none.

Once he finished the mixture, he brought the bowl over to the Doctor. "Okay, you don't have curry pepper, but this should help hold the effects off until we can get some." It was mostly liquid so it could be easily ingested. He wasn't as good as the Doctor was in knowing these things, but he'd picked up enough on their travels to know this. "Bottoms up, as they say."

He sat down, watching this other version of his friend closely. "It's not strange. Small wars, yes, but not a time war or anything like that. The Daleks had tried to invade, but they were thwarted. You and I were there to help and we protected our home successfully. Hear anything? No, I didn't. I only saw the infinite possibilities the universe held. Saw that a difference could be made." Koschei smiled. "You were always saying how you wanted to go out there and see everything. I was just a tag along at first, but one planet after another. Oh the sights we saw and the people we saved and the wars we stopped."

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dominustemporis
2011-10-20 02:26 am UTC (link)

Making a face at the concoction, the Doctor nevertheless pulled it close and lifted the bowl. "They can say whatever they like," he noted. "This isn't going to be pleasant." He couldn't quite help a theatrical shudder at the idea of some of the things he'd seen go into that bowl, but he tossed the contents back as quickly as he possibly could, then dropped his head into his arms while he waited to see if it would stay down. It did, thankfully, though his taste buds weren't likely to forgive him.

"Oh, that was foul," he muttered, face still pressed against his forearms. "Thanks, though. Should help, like you said. Sorry I'm missing a few things. I don't actually stay here. Well, I did, but then I needed to stop in at the TARDIS to see the other me, and I never quite left. Not until all of this fuss with the Seal and alternate dimensions." He turned his head so he could see Koschei, and for a few long moments, just watched him, thinking. It was hard to imagine the other Time Lord as the Master. He was so mild-mannered, so inherently kind. Had Rassilon and the drums really had such a profound effect on him? Just one more sin to add to the list of many, the Doctor thought. If it hadn't been for the war, Koschei might never have heard those drums.

"There was a war in my universe," he finally said, not entirely sure why. Perhaps this was some sort of confession. Perhaps, given this chance to sit down with a version of the Master who would listen, the Doctor hoped to finally have the chance to say he was sorry and be heard. "A Time War. You and me--well, the other you--were the only ones left, except I didn't even know he'd survived until I practically tripped over him at the end of the universe. Sometimes, I wonder if he'd have been better off had I left him alone. He was human. Didn't remember a thing about me, or home, or any of it. He could have lived out a human life and never had to come back to everything that went wrong."

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childofoakdown
2011-10-23 07:29 am UTC (link)

Koschei well knew the concoction wouldn't taste good, but it's contents would help for the mean time. And it was the best they could without actually being on Gallifrey and having access to the remedies there. He didn't move, waiting to make sure the stuff didn't come back up or that the Doctor didn't go into shock or anything. Mixing antidotes definitely wasn't his strong point. But when the Doctor seemed to take it well, he relaxed, though he still kept an eye out for any signs that the poison was working faster or in a different way.

"It's all right. We make do with what we have, right?" It was hard to remember he was talking to another version of the Doctor, not the one from his universe. It seemed the Doctor remained virtually the same in any universe. Which was refreshing to see because the universe, any of them, needed the Doctor. "Well of course you'd stay in the TARDIS when you could. Not exactly something you could be parted from." Koschei smiled. The Doctor always did like putsing around in it with various things. The Doctor had always been a tinkerer, and the TARDIS had received a few upgrades over the years of the travel they had together in his universe.

He listened as the Doctor spoke of what had happened in his universe. Koschei couldn't help but feel his hearts sink as he heard he and the Doctor were the only survivors. "We were the only Time Lords left?" He felt a sense of horror, unable to even imagine their people not existing anymore. How could something have been so bad that their entire people were killed? "Gallifrey is gone in your universe?" The tone of his voice was almost tentative, carrying the shock and horror he felt in it. "The other me used a fob watch? Was the War so bad that he had to do that?" Koschei wasn't sure how much he wanted to know about this other him. A young lady all ready seemed to think he was some killer or manipulator or whatever. How bad was this other version of himself? "Were you and the other me friends?"

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dominustemporis
2011-10-23 05:04 pm UTC (link)

The remedy seemed to be helping, the Doctor thought. He felt a bit more steady as time crawled by, a bit less like he was going to be ill if stood up. He knew, just as Koschei did, that it wasn't a cure, but it should buy him a day or two. Truth be told, though, he was having some difficulty mustering the determination to do something with those days. After seeing what his other self had done in the other universe, he was nursing a little more self-loathing than usual.

"Did you know," he found himself saying as Koschei spoke of the TARDIS, "that she's here twice over? Once in a human body. She ought to be burning up, but she's perfectly stable. Physically, I mean. If you talk to her, she sounds a bit mad. It's difficult for her, I think, to experience time and communicate in a linear fashion. I'm a bit worried about her. Found out while I was waiting for you that she's hurt. Have to leave her to the other me, though. I'm not exactly much good to her as I am right now." He hadn't been able to save his own people, he thought bitterly, and now he hadn't been able to protect his ship, the last of her kind, when she was at her most vulnerable.

"Were we friends?" he said, then, echoing Koschei's question. "Oh, yes. We were friends. Since we were small. We used to play in the fields on Mount Perdition. We went to the Academy together, were in the same chapter, spent time with the Rani and all the rest. He was like you, back then. You've probably sorted out by now that things went much worse for him than they did for you. The war was Hell, Koschei. I can't begin to describe it in a way that truly captures how bad it was. I don't know exactly what happened to him there, but he told me he ran when the Cruciform fell. I can't say that I blame him. Our people were using him. He didn't owe them anything."

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